1. Field of the Invention
This application relates to improved safety features for semi-automatic firearms with hammerless designs or which use striker pins to activate a firing pin. More particularly it concerns hand-held or guns of the type which do not have manual safety selectors and which use a striker type firing mechanism rather than a hammer strike firing mechanism.
2. Description of Related Art and the Class of Weapons to Which the Invention is Drawn
It is well known by police, military and other users of semi-automatic handguns that their accidental discharge is a very serious problem. Accidental discharge, often with fatal results, occurs by someone handling a weapon which was xe2x80x9csupposedxe2x80x9d to be on safety or, alternatively, which had its magazine removed and was supposed to be empty. Accordingly, much attention has been given, by designers, manufacturers and others skilled in the art of manufacture and use of semi-automatic firearms, to their construction or adaptation so as to avoid or mitigate the danger of accidental or inadvertent firing. The present invention further addresses this problem and provides the art with unique improvements in firearm construction that accomplishes this desired result with a manual safety system which heretofore was not available.
The majority of semi-automatic pistols in use, including those used as side-arms by the armed forces of the United States of America, are of the essentially single action type in which a firing pin, typically impacted by a hammer, is cocked into firing position by recoil of a slide when the weapon is discharged by pull of the trigger.(See U.S. Pat. Nos. 984,519 and 4,754,689). Some of these weapons may be double action on loading of the first round, but single action thereafter for all rounds in the magazine, i.e., they are not double action only weapons.
Such single action pistols are notorious for accidental discharge and various embodiments have been devised to improve their safety. This has included modification of the sear mechanism to reduce potential for movement on dropping or other impact of the weapon (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,646,619) and disablement of the trigger upon removal of the magazine (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,420,899).
Double action type pistols are those in which the firing pin is not cocked by slide recoil, but wherein trigger movement both cocks and releases the firing pin for weapon discharge (see U.S. Pat. No. 3,857,325). Since such pistols are not xe2x80x9carmedxe2x80x9d until trigger pull, they have less potential for accidental discharge upon being dropped or impacted. Still, accidental discharge is possible in such firearms and embodiments of them have been created to improve their safety, e.g., disablement of the trigger upon removal of the magazine (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,031,648). The present invention improves upon the inherent safety features of double action type firearms by provision of improvements thereto that virtually eliminate the possibility of their accidental discharge by dropping or impact or because there was a cartridge in the chamber of a gun from which the magazine had been removed.
A principal object of the present invention is the provision of new improved safety features for semi-automatic firearms which use a striker pin type of firing mechanism.
Further objects of the invention include an improved:
1. Manual safety device for hammerless pistols or other semi-automatic hand-guns guns wherein a firing pin is both cocked and released for firing by a trigger mechanism in contrast to the predominate type of semi-automatic guns in which a firing pin or related hammer is cocked by the recoil of the gun.
2. Manual safety lock mechanism for semi-automatic hand-guns having triggers, sears and firing pins that operate with relatively low and more constant friction as compared with prior known hand-guns.
3. Manual safety for such hand-guns that does not interfere with a constant, smooth trigger pull.
4. Manual safety in semiautomatic handguns in which the striker pin is positively blocked and/or prevented from reaching a fully retracted position necessary for the release of the pin and the firing of the weapon.
5. Manual safety in semiautomatic hand-guns in which attempted operation of the hand gun while the manual safety is engaged causes the gun to enter an out of battery condition, thereby preventing the firearm from operating.
6. Manual safety in semi-automatic handguns which provides an indication of the guns safe or ready-to-fire condition.
Other objects and further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed descriptions given herein. It should be understood, however, that the detailed descriptions, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent from such descriptions.
A manual safety lock that allows positive manual lock-out of semiautomatic to hand-guns of hammerless design is disclosed. In hand-guns similar to the Glock and Smith and Wesson 99 style pistols which use hammerless firing mechanisms, frequently there are no manual safety lock-outs to provide for a positive disengagement of the striker pin used to strike the primer of a cartridge. The present invention provides a method for easily retrofitting existing hand-guns with a positive safety mechanism that can be manually selectable or can include the provision of a conventional lock pin screw device requiring a unique key type mechanism to unlock.
Although the present invention has been designed specifically to work with Glock brand pistols, and have been successfully operated in a prototype design, it is clear from the diagrams and consideration of similarly designed semiautomatic pistols that the invention should operate properly on all such similar striker pin hand-gun designs. Therefore, the description below will specifically reference a Glock hand-gun though it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the same mechanisms are frequently found on many other popular hand-guns using similar technology for striker pin design.
In the case of the Glock hand-guns, once fully assembled, the Glock has three safeties engaged. However, the safeties are not manually selectable and are meant simply to prevent the inadvertent movement of the striker pin, so that the firing pin operated by the striker mechanism cannot reach a primer on live ammunition without the trigger actually and deliberately being pulled. Such a system does not provide for a manual safety system which can be positively engaged by an operator to prevent firing of the pistol even if the trigger is inadvertently pulled by the operator or some other person. When the trigger is pressed on the Glock pistol and begins to move, the trigger safety of the Glock is disengaged. As the trigger safety is pressed flush with the face of the trigger, the rear-end of the safety retracts into, and flush with, the upper rear portion of the trigger. This allows the Glock trigger safety to clear the receiver as the trigger is moved to the rear. The vertically extending tab on the trigger bar pressing the firing pin safety upward disengages it. At this point, the ammunition primer of the pistol cartridge is now available for the firing pin to detonate. Thereafter, the trigger bar moves the firing pin to the rear as the trigger is pulled further backxe2x80x94this rear-end movement partially compressing the firing pin spring which ultimately provides the energy from moving the firing pin forward upon release. It is at this point that the present invention would operate to prevent further movement. When the tab of the trigger bar contacts the connectors angled lip, the Glock pistol is said to be cocked. Unlike conventional pistols which will remain cocked without trigger presser, Glocks will uncock themselves automatically if, at this point, trigger pressure is removed by the operator. At this point in the trigger operation, the firing pins spring of the Glock has been compressed roughly an additional xe2x85x9 inch.
As the trigger on the Glock moves further to the rear, the trigger bar is forced to move downward as trigger pressure moves it further to the rear. This downward movement of the trigger bar caused the sear plate, the interval rear portion of the trigger bar, to move downward as well. The present invention serves to prevent the Glock from reaching this ready to fire condition. Upon further application of trigger pressure, the firing pin is released and driven forward by the compressed firing pins spring when the trigger has been pulled enough to move the trigger bar back far enough to slide down the connectors angled lip sufficient to drop the sear plate below the downward extension of the firing pin tang. Once released, the firing pin travels forward through the tunnel in the rear portion of the slide. The firing pins tip protrudes through the opening in the breach face and strikes the chambered primer thereby discharging the round.
The present invention, in its simplest form, provides a screw mechanism which mates with a threaded rear plate on the Glock where such threaded insert is located directly behind the striker pin, also referred to as the firing pin, preventing rearward movement of the striker pinxe2x80x94thereby preventing any firing of the Glock pistol unless and until such manual safety is moved or unthreaded. It can be appreciated that instead of using a simple manual twist mechanism for the screw-in safety device, a small locking mechanism can be used allowing locking of the safety on the xe2x80x9cOnxe2x80x9d position until a key like mechanism, pin or other type of device, is inserted in the mechanism to release the blocking pin safety.
Various additional embodiments are disclosed with the present invention showing a button-like latching mechanism to allow the depression of the safety to come into contact with the rear of the firing pin to prevent firing in the same fashion as the simple twist-in safety which is first described below. Key-like mechanisms are also disclosed which utilize the same principle of blocking the movement of the striker pin to prevent firing and to render the pistol in a safe condition until the safety is removed using a key-like mechanism as disclosed. Finally, an improvement embodiment which utilizes a thumb slide safety which activates a latching piece which captures an extension of the striker pin to hold it in place until the unlatching of the slide safety mechanism. This last embodiment would require a replacement striker pin such that an extension of the pin shaft exists to mate with the extension capture mechanism disclosed. The present invention contemplates utilizing a modified striker pin which would be a direct replacement for the pistol without a requirement of altering the pistol or using a gunsmith to modify the firearm.
Therefore, in accordance with the disclosure, the present invention teaches an improved safety for any firearms utilizing a striker pin style of firing mechanism. The safety mechanism disclosed provides both a method of placing the firearm in a safe condition, and the means for accomplishing a safe condition. The method disclosed places a firearm of the type referenced in a safe condition by arresting the travel of the striker pin, which operates as the firearms firing pin, by selectively limiting the movement of the striker pin about its major axis. The method includes placing a selectively removable stopping mechanism substantially coaxial with the longitudinal axis or major axis of said firing pin or striker pin. Disclosed is also various embodiments discussed above, which, in all cases, provide a safety mechanism which include means for arresting the movement of the striker pin, and a firing pin integrated or operated by such striker pin selectively to prevent the striker pin from firing a cartridge upon attempted activation of the trigger. The selective activation means disclosed also provides a variety of different alternatives for capturing the movement of the striker pin in the types of firearms considered. Such means include conventional selecting means such as slide buttons and key locks, or ratcheting button type devices, all of which serve to capture the end of the striker pin of the firearm which is closest to the rear of the firearm.
The capturing or arresting means disclosed positions the safety blocking mechanism such as to prevent movement of the striker pin, or alternatively, to actually displace the striker pin by placing pressure against it when the safety blocking mechanism is activated. In such cases, additional pressure placed by the safety shaft blocking mechanism or other means used to displace the striker pin will cause the firearm slide to begin to move rearward, thereby taking the firearm into what is commonly known as an out of battery condition. Once placed in such a condition, most, if not all firearms, are designed not to allow operation of the firearm, thereby presenting a second level of safe operation.
Finally, disclosed is an alternative design which utilizes a field replaceable striker pin which has an extended tail which protrudes to the rear of the firearm allowing alternative capture means to arrest or control the striker pins movement. The alternative allows slide switch activation means to capture and hold the firing mechanism.